Gregg Williams reinstated by NFL, hired by Titans

Less than a year after he was suspended indefinitely for orchestrating the Saints’ bounty program, Gregg Williams is back in the NFL.

The Titans announced today that they have hired Williams, and that the league office has confirmed to the team that he has been reinstated and is welcome to return.

“Commissioner Roger Goodell today notified Gregg Williams and the Tennessee Titans that Williams’ contract with the Titans has been approved and that he has been reinstated,” the team said in a statement. “The commissioner cited several reasons for the reinstatement, including Williams’ forthcoming acknowledgement of and acceptance of responsibility for his role in the bounty program at the Saints, his commitment to never again be involved in a pay-for-performance or bounty system, and his pledge to teach safe play and respect for the rules at all levels of the game. The commissioner emphasized that Williams must fully conform to league rules and will be subject to periodic monitoring to confirm his compliance.”

This is Williams’ second stint with the franchise, having previously worked from the team from 1990 to 2000. His new title will be senior assistant for defense, and head coach Mike Munchak said he’s excited about what Williams can do for his team.

“I have known Gregg for over two decades and have seen him work his way up from a quality control coach to a head coach,” Munchak said. “He will bring a great deal of defensive knowledge and energy to our staff. The decision to bring him here only came after going through a thoughtful and thorough process.”

With Williams back, all of the suspensions for both players and coaches handed out in the Saints’ bounty scandal have come to an end, concluding one of the most controversial chapters of NFL history.

56 responses to “Gregg Williams reinstated by NFL, hired by Titans”

What idiots. Beyond Goodell’s reinstatement, the Titans are beyond stupid to hire this guy. He’s already shown that he has a “me first” mentality, and that he’ll throw anyone under the bus to save his own ass.

Great job Goodell you suspend Sean Payton who really didnt have direct influence in the bounty program for the same amount of time as the Guy who actually ran the Bounty program. I’m So glad you use logic and good judgement in your decisions

More and more God-del has show he is a coward to stand up to ones who come back at him. He will be the ruin of the NFL , from excess fines suspensions to changeing the way played . He shows much favortism in the eyes of fans . They may go the way of baseball and basketball.

I certainly don’t condone what he did in N.O. but he paid his penalty and I’m for everyone getting a second chance. It is insane for anyone to think that Williams and only Williams knew about the bounty system. At least Williams took responsibility for his part in bountygate, that’s more than can be said for Vitt and Vilma and thus it’s much easier to give him a second chance and respect than the V boys. Pretty hard for saints fans to say much becuz if they claim that Williams is evil then they are also admitting that a bounty system was in place (something they have yet to come to grips with), and if the other’s paid their penalty and have been reinstated, then why shouldn’t Williams.

That’s wonderful news. We all know that in the 22 years that Gregg has been an NFL coach, he never once used any type of bounty/pay for performance system until he signed with the Saints. It’s really all the Saints fault that a bounty system was in place, which is why the Saints shouldn’t get back either of the 2nd round draft picks that were taken from them. Of course the NFL teams of Gregg’s past NFL stops should be allowed to retain all of their picks; bounties never existed in the NFL prior to the Saints’ 2009 season. And that’s how the Saints won the Super bowl, because nothing motivates players who are under contract for millions of dollars like the prospect of $500 weekly from a kitty pool. Sure the Saints were one of the least penalized teams, and least likely to seriously injure opponents, in Gregg’s time as Defensive Coordinator; all that means is they sucked at executing their vicious bounty program. And any ex-NFL player that steps forward and testifies that he was part of a bounty program on an NFL team other than the Saints, is obviously mistaken, and likely mentally challenged. What we really need is more punishments for the Saints, and more leniency on Gregg Williams.

This is bullshiggidy. The fact that he has thrown his players under the bus to save his own tail is disgusting. Being innocent is the only reason to snitch. If your hands are dirty in anyway then you should take your penalty. If your hands are clean and you are accused then sing like a jay bird.

His hands were the dirtiest, which means he should not have gotten off by snitching. I by no means agree with the BS “Stop Snitching” crap-ola, but someone with dirty hands should not get a reduced sentence by snitching on others.

Gregg Williams masterminds and runs the whole thing and gets suspended for a year. Sean Payton doesn’t exercise enough control over a guy he doesn’t really even like very much and gets suspended for a year.

shut up haters, the man was a scape goat…..
this was a cover up to please the Gov’t with suspensions and avoid Anti Trust investigation that would have put the NFL in great danger to Gov’t sanctions, this isn’t just a football game.

Everybody deserves a second chance. All being said, he is a tough def. coord. I would have welcomed him on The Eagles. Vic has come around. Paid the price and is on the right track. Who was more horrible then him?

Gregg Williams masterminds and runs the whole thing and gets suspended for a year. Sean Payton doesn’t exercise enough control over a guy he doesn’t really even like very much and gets suspended for a year.

Anyone else see a disparity in the punishments here?
==================================
No we don’t.
Teams were told to stop. They did. Your team didn’t. Then lied about it. Get the hell over it.
7-9 and no, nobody is afraid of your team in the coming year.

Payton gets suspended for the season, gets reinstated and becomes leagues richest coach. His main indiscretion is lack of control but come on….

Williams gets caught ON TAPE talking about the program he was the head of and pointing out specific players to hurt, gets an INDEFINITE suspension (which you would assume is worse than just 2 weeks longer than a year suspension) and the minute he comes back he has a job that surely will morph into a co-ordinator job in his near future.

10 win Lovie Smith? Never considered for a head coaching job and won’t sniff a sideline this season.

What is going on around here!?

This is just 1 part of the problem with him already having a job. The NFL needs to get it’s head out of you know where.

This was always going to happen. If Goodell did not find Williams a job, Williams would take an advance and write a tell all book about bounties on all his 10 stops in the NFL. Also, the chapter is not closed, Goodell is still taking away the Saints 2nd round pick this year as punishment for challenging his authority with the appeals against his shoddy suspension evidence. Goodell should man up, admit he was wrong, stop coercing coaches to back his story with threats against their jobs, and give the Saints back their pick. They have been through enough, and never seriously injured any opponents during Williams tenure, unlike most other teams that player way more physical on D.

Pathetic and insidious. I’ve just lost the teeny bit of respect that I had for Goodell and his NFL. I don’t intend to support the NFL in any manner from this point onward. They are more despicable even than Williams.

doclolly says:
Feb 7, 2013 12:25 PM
Great job Goodell you suspend Sean Payton who really didnt have direct influence in the bounty program for the same amount of time as the Guy who actually ran the Bounty program. I’m So glad you use logic and good judgement in your decisions
————————————————-
So you think that a control freak like Sean Payton had no idea that his Defensive Coordinator was running a bounty program? How about you pull the paper bag off your head and take your own advice. Logic and good judgement.

I can’t figure out if it was Munchak’s preference all along to keep Jerry Gray and considered it a bonus to reunite him with Williams, or if he couldn’t get anyone else interested in the DC job because he’s not exactly the picture of head coaching job security right now — in which case, why not throw Williams (who probably didn’t have anywhere else to go) into the mix?